Self-contained temperature-change container assemblies

ABSTRACT

A container houses an inner container with food or another product to be heated or cooled. An insert at least partially surrounds the inner container with a first temperature-change reagent inside the insert. A penetrable barrier is disposed between the first reagent and a second reagent. An actuator breaches the barrier to allow the first and second reagents to heat or cool the material inside the inner container. An outer shroud at least partially surrounds the insert. At least one spacer is present between the outer shroud and the insert, with thermally insulating air gaps present adjacent the spacer. The spacer also has an internal vent channel running through it for venting pressure from the internal volume in which the reagents mix to the atmosphere outside the assembly.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Self-contained temperature-change container assemblies are known in theart. Such assemblies may use an exothermic or endothermic chemicalreaction to generate or absorb heat and thereby to heat or cool aproduct inside the assembly. The product may be a food or beverage, acosmetic or a medical product, or anything else that a user would liketo have heated or cooled in comparison with the prevailing ambienttemperature.

Some such assemblies generate heat in an exothermic reaction by mixingcalcium oxide as a first reagent and liquid water as a second reagent.These two reagents may be kept separated by some physical barrier untilthe product is used. A user of the product may then use some sort ofactuator to breach or remove the barrier and allow the calcium oxide tomix. Heat generated in the resulting reaction is transferred to theproduct inside the assembly, thereby increasing its temperature.Assemblies of this type have been used to heat soups, entrees, hotbeverages, and a variety of other products.

Examples of self-contained temperature-change container assemblies aredescribed in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 10/756,954,filed Jan. 12, 2004, and 10/613,322, filed Jul. 3, 2003, which arehereby incorporated by reference in their entireties.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

The invention provides an attractive, practical, and robustself-contained temperature-change container assembly that is practicaland inexpensive to manufacture from readily available materials. Theassembly houses an inner container, which may be a standard cancontaining soup, another food or beverage, or some other type of productto be heated or cooled.

The inner container is received in an insert, which at least partiallysurrounds the inner container and which defines a first internal volumethat holds calcium oxide or another first temperature-change reagent.

A penetrable barrier is disposed between the first internal volume and asecond internal volume that holds water or another second temperaturechange reagent. An actuator is present which, when actuated by the user,breaches the barrier to allow the first and second temperature changereagents to mix. The resulting temperature change reaction generates orconsumes heat, which is transferred to or from the contents of the innercontainer. In a preferred embodiment, calcium oxide and water mix in anexothermic reaction that heats soup inside a standard metal can.

The assembly also includes an outer shroud that at least partiallysurrounds the insert. One or more spacers are present between the outershroud and the insert, with thermally insulating air gaps presentadjacent the spacers. The spacers also have internal vent channelsrunning through them for venting pressure from the internal volume inwhich the reagents mix to the atmosphere outside the assembly.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an outer shroud that forms a partof a housing assembly in a preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a section view of the outer shroud of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a enlarged section view showing details of a portion of theshroud of FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 4 is a section view showing a spike carrier that will be used as apart of an actuator in the preferred embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a section view of a flexible plastic pushbutton that will beused in the actuator with the spike carrier of FIG. 4.

FIG. 6 is a section view illustrating the assembly of the spike carrierof FIG. 4 to the shroud of FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 7 is a section view illustrating the assembly of the pushbutton ofFIG. 5 to the subassembly of FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 is a section view depicting the sealing of a film barrier memberover a quantity of a liquid reagent contained in the subassembly of FIG.7.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view of an insert member that will be used incombination with the subassembly of FIGS. 1-8.

FIG. 10 is a half section view of the insert member of FIG. 9.

FIG. 11 illustrates the placement of a filter material in two ventchannels that are formed in spacers on the exterior of the insert memberof FIGS. 9 and 10.

FIG. 12 is a section view illustrating the placement of an innercontainer into the insert member of FIGS. 9-11.

FIG. 13 is a section view illustrating the installation of a thermalinsulator inside the subassembly of FIGS. 9-12.

FIG. 14 is a section view that illustrates the placement of a steamcondenser inside the subassembly of FIGS. 9-13.

FIG. 15 is a section view that illustrates the filling of a granular orpowdered solid reagent into the interior of the subassembly of FIGS.9-14.

FIG. 16 is a perspective view showing a subassembly comprising the innersubassembly of FIGS. 1-8 assembled together with the outer subassemblyof FIGS. 9-15.

FIG. 17 is a half section view of the subassembly of FIG. 16.

FIG. 18 is a perspective view of a false bottom member that will beinstalled onto the subassembly of FIGS. 16 and 17.

FIG. 19 is a section view of the false bottom member of FIG. 18.

FIG. 20 is a perspective view illustrating the fixation of the falsebottom member of FIGS. 18 and 19 to the subassembly of FIGS. 16 and 17.

FIG. 21 is a section view of the subassembly of FIG. 20.

FIG. 22 shows the placement of a heat-insulating label over the exteriorof the subassembly of FIGS. 20 and 21 to complete the self-containedtemperature-change container assembly.

FIG. 23 illustrates the application of peel-away foil bottom and topcovers and a snap-on plastic top lid to the assembly.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The invention is embodied in a self-contained temperature-changecontainer assembly that is assembled around a standard food can or asimilar container that holds a food product or another item that will beheated or cooled inside the container. The construction and operation ofsuch a container assembly are described in this document.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing an outer shroud 10 that will form apart of a housing assembly that will surround an inner container in aself-contained temperature-change container assembly. FIG. 2 is asection view through the outer shroud.

The outer shroud 10 includes an upper ring portion 12. The shroud tapersfrom this upper ring portion down to a reduced-diameter lower skirtportion 15. The lower skirt portion has multiple ribs 17 around theperimeter of the skirt. The ribs may extend partway along the height ofthe shroud as in this drawing, or they may extend further along nearlythe full length of the shroud.

Referring now especially to FIG. 2, the outer shroud 10 includes ashroud floor 20 that includes structure that defines a depression 23.The depression will serve as a holding volume or containment region forwater or another liquid reagent, as will be described in more detailbelow.

FIG. 3 is an enlarged section view showing details of structures formedin the middle of the shroud floor 20 near the bottom of the outer shroud10. More specifically, a through-hole 25 is located in the center of theshroud floor. First and second interior ridges 28 and 30 are formedconcentrically around the through-hole so that an internal channel 33 isdefined between them around the outside of the through-hole on theinside of the shroud. On the other side of the shroud floor 20, firstand second exterior ridges 35 and 37 are formed concentrically aroundthe through-hole with an external channel 40 defined between the twoexterior ridges on the outside of the shroud.

FIG. 4 is a section view depicting a spike carrier 43, which serves as apart of an actuator in the self-contained temperature-change assembly.The spike carrier includes a spike platform 45 with several spikepenetrators 48 mounted on and facing away from one side of the spikeplatform. The figure depicts a spike carrier with five spikes - onespike at the center of the spike platform and four arrayed around itsedge. (One of the four edge spikes is not visible in the section viewpresented in FIG. 4.) Different numbers and patterns of spikes or otherpenetrators may be used as appropriate in particular assemblies.

The spike carrier 43 also includes a center post 50 in the center of thespike platform 45 on the side opposite the spikes 48, and a spikecarrier ridge 52 around the center post on the post's side of the spikeplatform. The center post includes a post groove 55 near the end of thepost opposite the platform. The spike platform can be made of aninexpensive and readily available plastic material, which should berelatively rigid so that a force can be transmitted effectively betweenthe end of the center post and the spikes on the carrier.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged section view of a pushbutton 58 that mates withthe spike carrier 43 shown in FIG. 4 to form the assembly's actuator.The pushbutton is generally circular and dome-shaped, with a receiver 60inside the dome and configured to receive and hold the end of the spikecarrier's center post 50. A raised engagement ridge 62 around the innercircumference of the receiver is sized to engage with the groove 55 nearthe end of the spike carrier's post. The pushbutton can be formed of aflexible resilient material such as a plastic that can be deformed undera load but that will also spring back into position when the load isremoved. If desired, one or more stiffening ridges 65 can be providedaround the inside (as shown) or the outside of the dome to increase thepushbutton's flex resistance and to help it to resume its original shapewhen a flexing load is removed.

An outer portion of the container assembly's housing is assembled asillustrated in FIG. 6 by passing the center post 50 of the spike carrier43 through the through-hole 25 in the shroud floor 20 of the assembly'souter shroud 10. One may note that in FIG. 6 that the carrier ridge 52(see FIG. 4) on the underside of the spike carrier fits into the upperchannel 33 between the two ridges 28 and 30 (see FIG. 3) on the floor ofthe shroud.

External vents 39 are visible in FIG. 6 as openings through the shroudfloor 20 near the edge of the shroud 10. These external vents allowpressure communication between the interior and the exterior of theshroud. The outside and the inside of the shroud are thus in pressurecommunication, in the sense that gas pressure differences will beequalized between these two locations via the external vents.

The pushbutton 58 is next pressed onto the outer shroud 10 as shown inFIG. 7. The spike carrier 43 will need to be held in place (manually orby an appropriate machine element) as this is done, so that the spikecarrier's center post will enter the receiver 60 at the center of thepushbutton dome. At the same time, the rim around the upper edge of thepushbutton enters the lower channel 40 between the two ridges 35 and 37(see FIG. 3) on the underside of the floor 20 of the outer shroud 10.

A liquid reagent 41, which may be ordinary water, is then filled intothe volume defined by the depression 23 in the outer shroud 10. Thatvolume is then closed by sealing a penetrable barrier 67 such as a foilor a film over the volume and around the rim of the lower shroud floor'sdepression as illustrated in FIG. 8. (The arrows in that figure indicatethe sealing of the film around this rim.) The film may be sealed ontothe outer shroud by heat sealing, with an adhesive, or by any othersuitable means.

When no external force is applied to the pushbutton 58, the pushbuttonwill exert a tensile force on the center post 50 of the spike carrier43. This force tends to pull the carrier ridge 52 on the underside ofthe spike carrier into the channel 33 inside the shroud. The same forceurges the rim of the pushbutton into the outside channel 40 on theexterior of the shroud. These pieces and forces thus effectively sealthe water or other liquid reagent 41 inside the volume 23 in which it iscontained inside the shroud.

Sealing the water or other liquid reagent 41 inside the volume formed bythe depression 23 in the outer shroud completes a lower housingsubassembly portion of the overall assembly. This outer housingsubassembly will later be mated with an inner housing subassemblyportion in the completed self-contained temperature-change containerassembly, as will be described in more detail below.

The inner housing subassembly is assembled around an insert 70, which isillustrated in a perspective view in FIG. 9, and in a half section inFIG. 10. The insert includes an outer rim or flange 72 and an insertskirt 75. One or more vent channels 78 is included on the outside of theskirt. The figures illustrate two such vent channels, but one, two, ormore may be present in particular embodiments. One preferred embodimentincludes four such vent channels arranged symmetrically (i.e., with anarc of 90 degrees between them) around the periphery of the insertskirt.

The vent channels 78 are open at one end near the edge of the skirt 75,but closed at the other end where the vent channels abut the insert'sflange or rim 72. A small vent or opening 80 in the wall of the skirtallows pressure communication between the inside of the skirt and theinterior of each of the vent channels, so that gas pressure can betransferred between the skirt interior and the vent channels.

As FIG. 11 illustrates, a strip of filter material 83 is inserted downthe length of each of the vent channels 78 before further assembly ofthe inner housing subassembly. The filter material should be porousenough so that air may pass through it along the length of the filterchannel, but of a material fine enough to prevent solids from movingthrough it and to at least greatly inhibit the flow of liquids throughthe vent channels. The filter material should have a high internalsurface area, so that hot steam that enters the vent channels willcondense readily inside the filter material. Natural or synthetic feltsmay be used as filter materials in this application.

FIG. 12 is a section view illustrating the insertion of a standard metalfood or beverage can 85 into the insert 70 to serve as an innercontainer that holds a consumable product inside the assembly. A rim atone end of the can snaps into a rim channel 88 inside the skirt 75 ofthe upper insert 70. The fit between the can's rim and the insert's rimchannel is tight enough to secure the can firmly to the insert.

FIG. 13 illustrates the placement of a heat insulating material 90inside the insert 70. The heat insulating material should be a materialof relatively low thermal conductivity such as, for example, a thinlayer of corrugated cardboard, pressed paper, an expanded polystyrenefoam, or the like. The insulating material can be placed as athin-walled cylinder or a rolled sheet inside the insert, or it may besprayed onto the inner wall of the skirt 75, as implied by the arrows inFIG. 13. The material may either be sufficiently permeable to pressure,or holes should be created or provided in the material at the locationsof the openings 80 in the skirt, so that pressure can be communicatedbetween the interior of the insert and the vent channels 78. Where amaterial such as a corrugated cardboard is used, no special treatmentmay be necessary, as pressure can be communicated sufficiently throughthe cardboard or around it to reach the vent channels.

After the insulating material 90 has been placed inside the insert 72, asteam condenser 92 is placed inside the insert 70 as shown in FIG. 14between the skirt 75 and the inner container 85. The steam condensershould be a material with a relatively high thermal conductivity and,preferably, a high surface area. Steel wool is one such suitablematerial, and one that can be placed conveniently inside the insert as aring of material around the end of the can that is snapped into the rimchannel 88. The function of the steam condenser is to condense steamformed inside the skirt and to transfer the heat generated by thatcondensation to the outer wall of the can and from there into the can'scontents. This will also decrease the amount of steam and heat that istransferred into the vent channels and to the exterior of the overallassembly.

After the steam condenser 92 is in place inside the upper insert 70, atypically granular or powdered solid reagent 95 is filled as shown inFIG. 15 into the space inside the upper insert's skirt 75. The solidreagent should be allowed to fill the space between the skirt and theouter wall of the can 85, and should be filled further to cover the endof the can opposite the end whose rim has been snapped into the rimchannel 88 of the upper insert. The solid reagent can be filled to apoint near the edge of the skirt opposite the upper insert's flange 72,so that the solid reagent is in close contact with both the cylindricalwall and the circular end of the can to insure effective heat transferbetween the reagent and the can, and so that the solid reagent can helpto support the weight of the can when the upper insert is inverted fromthe position shown in FIG. 15, as will be the case in the finalassembly. In the preferred embodiment, the engagement of the innercontainer with the rim channel is sufficiently secure so that the innercontainer would be maintained adequately in place even if the solidreagent were not present to provide support.

Filling the solid reagent into the space inside the skirt 75 of theinsert 70 completes an inner housing subassembly, which is shown in asection view in FIG. 15. The next step in the assembly process is to fitthe inner housing subassembly into the outer housing subassembly. Theouter housing subassembly is inverted from the orientation shown in FIG.8 (the barrier film 67 will retain the liquid reagent 41 inside thedepression 23 in the shroud floor 20) and slipped down over the innerhousing subassembly, which is maintained upright in the same orientationas that shown in FIG. 15 (so that the solid reagent will not spill outof the inside of the shroud 10).

The resulting assembly can be seen in FIG. 16, which shows the flexiblepushbutton 58 inside the skirt portion 15 of the outer shroud 10 at oneend of the assembly, and the rim of the flange 72 of the insert 70seated against the ring portion 12 of the outer shroud 10. This assemblyis also shown as a section view in FIG. 17.

The inner and outer housing subassemblies are fixed together in apreferred embodiment by spin welding. One of the subassemblies is spunrapidly around its center while it is pressed firmly against the othersubassembly, which is held fixed. Frictional heating between the twoparts fuses them together where the two subassemblies contact oneanother. The contacting parts of these subassemblies should thus beformed of a plastic or another material for which spin welding iseffective. Durable, inexpensive, and easily moldable plastics are knownto be suitable for such applications.

Any other suitable method might be used for joining the assembly'scomponents together. These include ultrasonic welding, joining the partswith an adhesive, molding or otherwise manufacturing certain of theparts integral with one another, or any other suitable technique orcombination of techniques.

FIG. 17 illustrates two circular lines of contact where spin welds areformed between the inner and outer housing subassemblies in thisembodiment. A first spin weld is formed at the location indicated byarrow A, where the rim of the skirt 75 on insert 70 contacts the insideof the outer shroud 10. A second spin weld is formed at a locationindicated by arrow B, where the outer shroud's ring portion 12 contactsthe flange 72 on the insert 70. While it is widely held by those ofskill in the art that spin welds are generally formable at only a singleline of contact between two assembled parts, the inventors of thisembodiment have discovered that two spin welds can be formedsimultaneously at the two lines of contact indicated in FIG. 17.

FIG. 17 implies that the external vents 39 in the floor 20 are alignedafter the spin welding with the vent channels 78 on the outside of theinsert's skirt 75. Where this is the case, pressure can be communicatedbetween the vent channels and the atmosphere via the external vents. Inembodiments in which the external vents are not deliberately alignedwith the vent channels during the assembly process, small openings (notshown) can be provided on the outer face of the vent channels 78 forventing pressure into the space between the insert 70 and the shroud 10,and from there to the atmosphere through the vents 39.

After the two housing subassemblies are assembled and fused together, afalse bottom 100 is fixed to the underside of the insert 70 around thepushbutton 58. The false bottom is depicted in perspective in FIG. 18,and in half-section in FIG. 19. The false bottom is shown in place inthe perspective view of FIG. 20, and in the section view provided byFIG. 21.

The false bottom 100 includes a central opening 103 surrounded by araised annular guard 105. The guard encircles the pushbutton 58 where itprojects through the false bottom, which serves to decrease thelikelihood the assembly will be activated by an inadvertent applicationof force against the pushbutton. Tabs 108 on the false bottom 100support the false bottom and space it a short distance away from thematerial of the insert 70.

The false bottom 100 is spin-welded on to the insert 70. FIG. 21includes an arrow C that illustrates a circular line of contact betweenthe false bottom and the insert around their central openings. The spinweld between these two parts is formed along this line of contact.

The figures show several smaller openings 110 in addition to therelatively large central opening 103 in the false bottom 100. Theseopenings are act as vents for venting pressure to the atmosphere. Threevertical ribs 111 are provided on the guard 105 for engagement with thetool that spin welds the false bottom onto the assembly.

FIG. 22 illustrates the provision of a label 113 over the ribs 17 (seeFIG. 20) on the outside of the outer shroud 10. The label may be printedwith an appealing image, advertising or nutritional information, andinstructions for using the product. In a preferred embodiment, the labelcan be printed onto a thin sheet of expanded closed-cell foam, which issuitable for the printing of high quality images, which can be grippedcomfortably by a user of the assembly, and which is an effective thermalinsulator as well. This thermal insulation quality is augmented by thepresence of the ribs under the label, as a layer of insulating air isthereby provided between the inside of the label and the outside of theshroud 10 between each of the ribs.

FIG. 23 illustrates the application of a protective foil bottom 115, aprotective foil top 117, and a snap-on plastic lid 120 to the assembly.The foil bottom and foil top are thin foil disks secured by an adhesiveor any other suitable means to the bottom and the top of the assembly.The foil bottom covers the pushbutton. This guards against inadvertentactuation of the assembly and provides an easily visible indication ifthe product has been tampered with or actuated before the desired timeof use. The foil top and the snap-on lid insure that the top of theassembly is kept clean until the product is used. Each of these elementsis easily removed when the user is ready to use the assembly to heat andconsume the product inside the inner container.

A preferred embodiment holds soup or a similar edible product inside theinner container 85. When the user wants to eat the soup, he can invertthe assembly from its usual orientation as shown in FIG. 22, set it downon a flat surface on its top, and press firmly down on the pushbutton58. This urges the spike penetrators 48 (see FIG. 21) through the filmbarrier 67. When the user releases the pushbutton, the spike carrier 43returns to its usual position, which with draws the spikes from thebarrier to allow the liquid reagent 41 to flow through the openings intothe barrier and into contact with the calcium oxide solid reagent 95inside the insert 70. The resulting exothermic reaction generates heatthat is transferred into the can to heat the soup.

The reaction will increase the pressure inside the insert 70, and mayalso generate a certain amount of steam. The pressure inside the insertwill be equalized with the atmosphere though, via the openings 80 andthe vent channels 78 of the insert, which vent pressure to theatmosphere via the external vents 39 in the floor 20 of the shroud 10.The bulk of any steam produced should be condensed by the steel woolsteam condenser 92 and on the interior walls of the housing. The heat ofcondensation for the steam condensed on the condenser will betransmitted largely from the metal steel wool and into the metal wall ofthe inner container can 85. Any steam that does enter the vent channelsshould then be largely condensed inside the felt filter material 83, sothat no significant amount of steam, and substantially no liquid orsolid reagent particles, is allowed to exit the assembly where it mightbe noticed by the user.

The first thermal insulator 90 inside the insert 70 insures that heat istransmitted preferentially into the can 85, and not into the plasticmaterials of the housing. The exterior of the assembly is kept coolenough for comfortable handling by the expanded foam label 113, by theair gaps between the ribs 17 on the shroud 10, and by the additional airgap that is present between inner wall of the shroud and the outer wallof the insert, wherein the structures that define the vent channels 78act as spacers with a layer of air trapped between the shroud and theinsert in the region between each of the vent channels.

After a suitable time (when the soup is hot and ready to eat) the usercan flip the assembly back upright and open the can. The can be madeopenable with a standard can opener as has long been the case withordinary soup cans, or the can be provided with a conveniently openablepull-tab pop-top as is also frequently the case. The inner container maybe empty when the assembly is sold, so that the user can place his orher own food product or another product inside the empty inner containerfor heating in the assembly. An eating utensil can be provided with eachassembly. Where this is the case the utensil may be located convenientlyinside the lower shroud skirt 15 (near the pushbutton 58, particularlywhere the overall assembly is shrink wrapped or otherwise similarlypackaged for shipment and sale.

A self-contained temperature-change assembly and a procedures forassembling it have been described as examples of how the invention mightbe configured and used in a particular embodiment. The invention is notlimited to these examples, though, and various modifications oradditions will no doubt occur to those of skill in the art. The truescope of the invention should thus be determined primarily by referenceto the appended claims, along with the full scope of equivalents towhich those claims are legally entitled.

1. A self-contained temperature-change container assembly, the assemblycomprising: an inner container configured to hold a product whosetemperature will be changed by a temperature-changing chemical reactiontaking place in the container assembly; an insert that includesstructure that at least partially surrounds the inner container andwhich at least partially defines a first internal volume that holds afirst temperature change reagent; a penetrable barrier between the firstinternal volume and a second internal volume that holds a secondtemperature change reagent; an actuator operable to breach thepenetrable barrier,.wherein breaching the penetrable barrier allows thefirst and second temperature change reagents to mix in a temperaturechange reaction that transfers heat between the reagent mix and thecontents of the inner container; an outer shroud that at least partiallysurrounds the insert; at least one spacer between the outer shroud andthe insert, wherein an air gap is defined between the outer shroud andthe insert at a location adjacent said spacer, and wherein a ventchannel is defined inside at least one of the spacers; structure placingthe first internal volume and the vent channel in pressurecommunication; and structure placing the vent channel and thesurrounding atmosphere in pressure communication; wherein the firstinternal volume and the atmosphere are placed in pressure communicationvia the vent channel.
 2. The container assembly of claim 1, wherein theouter shroud includes structure that at least partially defines thesecond internal volume that holds the second temperature change reagent.3. The container assembly of claim 2, wherein the shroud floor includesstructure defining a through hole, and wherein the actuator comprises: abarrier breaching member located inside the shroud on an interior sideof the shroud floor; a button member located outside the shroud floor onan exterior side of the shroud floor opposite the interior side; and aforce transmission member that passes through the through hole betweenthe button member and the barrier breaching member; wherein pressing onthe button member urges the barrier breaching member through thepenetrable barrier to allow the reagents to mix and the reaction toproceed.
 4. The container assembly of claim 1, and further comprisingstructure on the actuator that mates with structure on the outer shroudto hold the second temperature change reagent inside the second internalvolume.
 5. The container assembly of claim 4, wherein the matingstructures include a ridge on one of the barrier breaching member andthe shroud, wherein said ridge engages with a groove on the other of thebarrier breaching member and the shroud to enhance a sealing engagementbetween the barrier breaching structure and the shroud.
 6. The containerassembly of claim 1, wherein the actuator includes a flexible pushbuttonmember that snaps into a groove on the shroud.
 7. The container assemblyof claim 6, wherein the pushbutton member includes structure defining areceiver that receives and holds a force transmitting member that urgesa barrier breaching member through the barrier when a force is appliedto the pushbutton.
 8. The container assembly of claim 7, wherein thepushbutton member applies a tensile force to the force transmittingmember when force is not applied to the pushbutton by a user of theassembly, wherein the tensile force urges the barrier breaching memberinto sealing engagement with the shroud, and wherein said sealingengagement contributes to the maintenance of the second reagent insidethe shroud.
 9. The container assembly of claim 1, and further comprisinga filter material inside at least one of the vent channels.
 10. Thecontainer assembly of claim 1, wherein the inner container includes arim that engages with a rim channel on the shroud to secure the innercontainer to the shroud.
 11. The container assembly of claim 1, andfurther comprising a steam condenser inside the assembly between theinsert and the inner container.
 12. The container assembly of claim 11,wherein the steam condenser includes steel wool.
 13. The containerassembly of claim 1, wherein a sufficient quantity of the firsttemperature change reagent is present inside the first internal volumeto insure contact between the first temperature change reagent andsubstantially the entire portion of the inner container that issurrounded by the insert.
 14. The container assembly of claim 1, whereinthe first temperature change reagent is a solid material whose presencehelps to maintain the position of the inner container inside the insert.15. The container assembly of claim 1, wherein the structure placing thevent channel and the surrounding atmosphere in pressure communicationincludes structure that defines at least one external vent that allowspressure communication through the outer shroud.
 16. The containerassembly of claim 1, wherein the shroud and the insert are spin-weldedtogether at least two distinct lines of contact.
 17. The containerassembly of claim 1, and further comprising a guard structure fixeddirectly to at least one of the insert and the shroud, wherein the guardstructure is configured to protect the actuator from inadvertentactuation.
 18. The container assembly of claim 17, wherein the guardstructure is carried by a false bottom that is fixed directly to theinsert.
 19. The container assembly of claim 18, wherein the false bottomis spin-welded to the shroud.
 20. The container assembly of claim 1,wherein the outer shroud includes a plurality of spaced apart ribs, andfurther comprising a heat insulative layer applied over the ribs withair between the ribs between the heat insulative layer and the exteriorof the shroud.
 21. The container assembly of claim 1, wherein the insertis a generally cylindrical member, and wherein the vent channels runalong substantially the entire length of the insert's cylindrical wallbetween opposite ends of the insert.
 22. The container assembly of claim1, wherein the insert and the outer shroud are both generallycylindrical members, and wherein the insert includes a flange at one endthat engages with a rim at one end of the shroud.
 23. The containerassembly of claim 22, wherein the insert's flange carries a channel thatengages with a rim on the inner container to secure the inner containerto the insert.